Dwight s



.(No Model.)

D. S.RIGHARDS0N.

GRATE BAR AND GRATE.

N0. 320,001. Patented June 10, 1885.

IIIJI UNITED STATES PATENT Ormea.

DW'IGHT S. RICHARDSON, 0F BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

GRATEfBAR AND GRATE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 320,001, dated June 16, 1885.

Application filed December 19, 1884. (Xo model.)

To all whoml it may concern:

Be itknown that LDwIGHr S. RIoHARDsoN, a citizen of the United States, residing in Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of New York, have inventedl certain new and useful Improvements in Grate-Bars and Grates,of which thefollowing is a description.

The invention has -relation particularly to the class of grate-bars which are adapted to be assembled in a group or series and to be operated by connect-i ng gearing which imparts to all the members of the series a simultaneous movement 5 but the advantages arising from the peculiar construction of the bar will be equally available if each individual barbe op erated independent-ly of all the others.

Hitherto in this class of devices it has been found extremely difficult, if not impossible,to produce a bar which in use would not, in a very brief space of time, become bent or warped,or both bent and warped, through the action of heat. Believing that this result has beenlargelydue to inequalities in the diameters of the parts of which the bars were composed, or to other defects in the construction which prevented portions of the bar from accommodating themselves to the expansive action of other portions of the same, I have sought to construct a bar in which differences in the size of the several parts shall, as far as possible, be avoided or proportioned to the degree of their exposure to heat, and to place the parts in such relation to each other that none of them shall, under any circumstances, be expanded to a degree greatly in excess of the expansion of the other parts.

In the drawings, Figure l is a top plan showing a series of bars applied at the top of the base or ash-pit section ofa hot-air furnace. Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the same, the door of the ash-pit being removed. Fig. 3 is a bottom plan view of one of the bars. Fig. 4 is a top plan view of one of the bars providedl with anextension. Fig. 5 is a transverse section on the line x a', and Fig. is a transverse section on the line g/ y of Fig. 4.

A is the base or supporting section of a furnace. B B are the grate bars or sections.

Each grate section or bar B is composed of a single three-faced piece, each face being laterally bounded by a longitudinal rib or spine, B, the faces each having the dish-shaped or gutter-like depression or cavity b,which,lke the ribs B', extends from end to end of the fuel-supporting portion of the bar, and the cavities being provided at intervals along the lowest portion of the same with openings b', each of which is gradually enlarged as it extends inwardly until it reaches the axial een ter ofthe bar, where,withi n the double-inclined surfaces b8 of the ribs,it is merged in the corresponding openings of like formation, which extend from the other two faces of the bar. It will thus be seen that each bar consists of the end journals, b b, the three longitudinal spines or ribs B, and the interconnecting transverse sections or webs B" between each two of the intercommunicating orifices b.

It will be understood from the foregoing that one of the spines B is at right angles to each face of the bar,and that when the bar isin either of its three fuel-supporting positions- 4 that is,when either of the three faces is placed horizontally with its cavity uppermost-one of the spines B will be at-the right and another at the left of the cavity, while the third is directly beneath the same and under the center of each of the openings b in the cavity.

Vhen the bars are to be grouped in a connected series for simultaneous operation, one of the two journals b of each bar will be provided, in an ordinary manner, with an en larged portion, b, of hexagonal or other suitable form to adapt it to receive a gear-wheel, b4, and a prolongation, b5, of one of the bars will be further provided with a socket, b, to adapt it to receive an operating-winch, bl.

The bar thus provided being in engagement with the others through the medium of the gear-wheels, motion is readily imparted to the entire series. If the bars are to be operated singly, it will be necessary only to provide an extension of one of the journals with a socket or with a squared end to receive a suitable actuating implement.

A grate-bar thus constructed has been found to combine in an eminent degree the desirable qualities of lightness,strength,and durability, and to effect thorough combustion of the fuel, the relation of the parts being such as to insure to all portions of the fire-bed a substantially equal `supply of air, and the configuration of the air-passages being such that,which ever'facc of the bar may be uppermost, no

ICO

lodging-surface is afforded within them upon which ashes may collect, for it will be seen that the inner portion of each spine is formed with a double-inclined surface, 118, to insure the instant discharge therefrom of any ashes that may fall upon the same.

A very important advantage arising from the peculiar construction of the bar is found in the fact that in casting the saine no core is required. By dispensing with this internal mold the outlay involved in the production of the bar is greatly diminished.

It will be apparent that the advantages resulting from the provision of the cross-webs B, which connect and brace the longitudinal ribs or spines B', and from the peculiar form of the openings b' between such webs, would be obtained to a nearly equal extent if the faces of the bar be flat instead of concave; but I prefer the concave surface,because it affords a larger area for the contact of air and of fuel with the bar, and also because it insures more perfect circulation of air between' the surface of the bar and the fuel thereon.

Having described my invention, I claim- 1. A grate-bar consisting` essentially, of the journals b b, the spines B B B,and the series of webs B, having between them the intercommunicating openings b', substantially as described.

2. A three-faced grate-bar, each face of which has a cavity, b, in which are openings b', and which has also at cach of its two sides a spine, B', such spines constituting the outer lateral extremities of the bar, substantially as set forth.

3. A grate consisting of two or more gratebars, which are' geared together as described, each bar having end journals,three longitudinal spines, and three longitudinal faces, in each of which is a longitudinal groove o r cavity, and a series of transverse perforations, each of which connects with a like perforation in each of the other two cavities. l

4. A three faced grate -bar, each face of which is laterally bounded by a longitudinal rib, which terminates interiorly at a point near the axial center of the bar in a double-inclined surface, whereby the lodgment of ashes upon the inner portion of such rib is rendered impossible. l

DWIGHT s. RICHARDSON.

VVitn esses: Y

HENRY T. RICHARDSON, JAS. B. TAYLOR. 

